The 'standup scientist' revealing the secret of laughter

Standup scientist – Meet Sophie Scott, professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London studying laughter. The "standup scientist" uses comedy to share her findings.

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Sophie Scott: 'Standup scientist' revealing why we laugh4 photos

Sound of silence – The 46-year-old talked to CNN inside the university's anechoic chamber (pictured), a sound-proof room where researchers record laughter, later playing it to people while scanning their brains with fMRI scans. They found no difference between how men and women understand laughter.

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Sophie Scott: 'Standup scientist' revealing why we laugh4 photos

Take a seat – The team of researchers played YouTube clips to make people laugh. But they found people laughed most when they were with friends. In fact, we're 30 times more likely to crack up when we're with other people, according to Scott.

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Sophie Scott: 'Standup scientist' revealing why we laugh4 photos

Brain scan – They then played the recordings of real and posed laughter to people while scanning their brains with fMRI. "When people heard the posed laughter, there was more activation in brain areas associated with metalizing tasks -- ie. trying to work out what someone else is thinking," said Scott.

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I'm in a room built for laughter and I'm fighting the urge to faint. Or vomit. Or at least dab at the beads of sweat forming on my upper lip.

If you're not great with small spaces, then an anechoic chamber probably isn't an ideal place to conduct an interview. Barely large enough to fit two chairs, with every surface covered in foam wedges and a TV bolted to the wall, the sound-proof bunker has the unnerving appearance of an apocalyptic Big Brother Diary Room.

It's the type of place where nobody could hear you scream -- and that's exactly the point. This echo-free room is where University College London scientist Sophie Scott has been recording laughter, in an effort to find out what makes us giggle and why.

Scientist Sophie Scott.

"I don't like coming in here, it makes my head feel thick, like I've got a load of blankets dropped on me," said the 46-year-old professor of cognitive neuroscience, as we sit down to talk about her work.

"This is where we record a lot of our emotional stimuli. We try to make people laugh in here, which is something of a challenge. We've also made people cry in here, so that was a day in the park -- crying in an anechoic chamber, the perfect storm," says Scott before adding her own cheerful chuckle, her large cartoon moon earrings jangling in agreement.

Laugh out loud

How do you send someone into stitches, in such an uncomfortable environment? YouTube clips help -- that's where the TV comes in. But the best trick is being with friends. In fact, we're 30 times more likely to laugh when we're with other people, according to Scott.

As part of their experiments, Scott and her team recorded two types of laughter in the anechoic chamber -- real, uncontrollable whooping, and posed, deliberate, chuckling.

This week Scott will again be taking to the stage to help mark Ada Lovelace Day, in honor of the 19th century female mathematician, often credited as the world's first computer programmer.

Scott will be one of many prominent female scientists, engineers, and technologists talking about their work at Imperial College London.

"It's still a case that on the whole, the stereotype of the scientist is the gray beard, white coat man in a laboratory -- and of course, that's not true," said Scott.

"One of the important things to remember about women in science is actually, there's loads of them. It's just that we lose them, we don't value them as much, we don't think they count in the same way."

Indeed, Yale researchers have found potential employers still view young male scientists more favorably than their female counterparts.

Scott pointed to studies done by U.S. scientist Jaak Panksepp, who found that rats made the same high-pitched "laughing" sound when they were playing, as when they were being tickled.

Such is the bonding power of laughter that it can even help make or break a relationship, as Scott explains: "Some of the things scientists are finding is couples who manage stressful situations with positive affect -- laughter -- are the people who stay together longer."

"Comedian Victor Borge said 'laughter is the shortest distance between two people.' I think what Borge was getting at was the intimacy of laughter. It's an expression of closeness."